The present invention is generally directed to a transportation device for transporting a person, especially in a medical situation.
Transportation equipment for patients, such as cots or stretchers, which are used to transport a patient in a vehicle, such as an ambulance or aircraft, including a helicopter, are well known. Most equipment of this type include a wheeled undercarriage and a stretcher that is removably mounted to the undercarriage. The equipment, however, is relatively heavy and cumbersome to handle. As a result, the equipment usually requires two or more persons to load the equipment onto the vehicle. Furthermore, the equipment is typically not adjustable and, therefore, cannot readily adapt to the needs of the persons, most often paramedics, who handle the equipment.
Consequently, there is a need for a patient transportation device that can facilitate loading of the device onto a vehicle, including an aircraft, such as a helicopter, and can provide adjustment so that it may be adjusted to the needs of the person handling the device.